Inspiring the next generation of embroiderers

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It’s that time of year when I look back on the projects I’ve been working on this year. Of course, there are usually little completed and many more started!

I am happy that I’ve managed to complete these projects: Christmas decorations, Kaaffe Fassett Log cabin quilt, blackwork fuschia, mounting a goldwork initial into a jewellery box, two pieces of crewel embroidery for a course I am doing through the NSW Embroiderers’ Guild, a dress and skirt for my boss’ birthday, a couple of dresses for myself, a dress for Miss H (our daughter), baby name cross stitch for Miss H and a lap quilt/wallhanging for Husband’s Nan. Wow, when writing a list it actually seems like I have made progress! I will try and load photos of some of these to show you.

Now, onto 2014 – The Year of the UFO. No, I’m not talking about Unidentified Flying Objects. I’m talking about UnFinished Objects! I really need to STOP myself from starting new projects (unless they are in planning for the book) and make a dent in my UFO stash.

The UFOs I want to complete, off the top of my head, include: Sweetcakes Quilt for Miss H, my gran’s embroidered quilt, at least three more pieces of crewel for the embroidery course (one of these needs to be completed and sent in by late Feb so I better get cracking!), two dresses for my boss as a late Christmas present – my overlocker needs fixing before this can be done, Christmas decorations for next year’s gifts, two dresses for myself plus any others I come across which have been cut out but not put together, a goldwork Calla Lilly, a Mountmellick sampler which I will need to bribe someone into knitting the fringe for me as I don’t knit nor do I have a desire to learn, a quilt for a good friend of mine, a blue threadpainted butterfly and a pair of blackwork Lovebirds. Unfortunately I do actually have more UFOs but these are the ones I want to have done first. The others can float along in the background for now.

And finally, onto my planned Fabric Diet! I have (unfortunately) inherited my grandmother’s addiction to fabric. Quilting fabric, embroidery fabric, dressmaking fabric, you name it… My discovery this year of www.fabric.com did NOT help this addiction. On top of my giant fabric stash which is kept at not only my house, but also there are bits at my dad’s and my mother-in-law’s still, I also have unopposed access to my gran’s stash which has been collected over the last 50 or so years – between us, that is a LOT of fabric! So I am going on a fabric diet. I have acknowledged I have a problem, and this is the time to work on it 🙂 I am not going to buy any fabric for at least six months. I will reassess this in June and hopefully go the whole 12 months of 2014. The only exceptions to this will be fabric needed to complete a UFO which cannot be found in the giant stash, and any materials needed for projects for the book. Wish me luck!

I haven’t made much progress on any projects in the last week or two due to Miss H teething and being extremely unhappy. I now have about two weeks of work over Christmas so hopefully I’ll get a bit more done during the day. I desperately want to be able to show you a completed Sweetcakes Quilt Top by Monday afternoon!

Below are some photos of some of the completed projects from this year. Enjoy!

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I have recently decided to start building on my dream of inspiring the next generation of embroiderers, by writing a specialised embroidery book and designing kits and patterns. I am keeping the technique I have chosen for the book largely under wraps at the moment, but am hoping to have the book published in early-mid 2015. Feel free to guess which style I have chosen!

I am working on a series of small, identical Christmas decorations for my daughter’s preschool teachers.

The design I have chosen is from Lesley Wilkins’ book, “Blackwork Made Easy”. I started working on them on Friday night, and my husband commented “Gee they will be small!” I have deliberately kept the design small (the stitching is about a 1.5 inch square), since I need to make eight of them! I am working them on white aida with black perle cotton. They will be backed with Christmas fabric and have a red or green twisted cotton hanger. Photos will follow, I promise – when I work out how to insert them!